


Growing Together

by osirismind



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Ace!Theo, Asexual Character, Character Development, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, Personal Growth, Polyamory, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 08:42:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16155581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/osirismind/pseuds/osirismind
Summary: Theo has always known that he's different. He just hasn't fitted in. But with the help of his friends he can finally be the person he's been all along. He can finally be himself.





	Growing Together

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xTarmanderx](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xTarmanderx/gifts).



> Happy belated birthday, Tara! I hope you like this <3
> 
> All mistakes are my own.  
> Enjoy!

Theo has always been different, hasn't fitted in completely. Sure, everyone is special in their own kind of way- when it comes to their eye color, skin tone, hair, height; their appearance overall-, but what makes people really individual is their personality.

Some people are really into sports, others into art and music. It always depends on their talents and interests. Even your environment influences you and what people taught you since when you were still so little that you looked at the world with pure curiosity without even knowing what you are looking at. And all of these things- experience, characteristics, socialization- shape people into individual beings.

But what all of them have in common is that they're stuck on this planet for an unknown period of time. They try to live life to the fullest, even though it doesn’t always work out like they wanted. Though, at the end of the day they’ve reached something that they can be proud of. Sometimes they struggle but everything will work out eventually, right?

Theo, however, has never quite believed in the happy ending part. He’s struggled his whole life with figuring out who he is, what he wants and still isn’t sure why he even lives on this planet with all these other creatures. Like, what’s the use of it?

When he was younger, in the early state of his puberty, he’d started realizing that something is extraordinary about him. Not special, just not quite right.

Unlike most of his friends, he wasn’t into discussing who was the best looking girl in class. He didn’t crush easily on other people. Everyone got into relationships eventually and Theo, well, Theo still stayed single. Didn’t even want to be with some random girl just because she was good looking or because it made him more popular. His friends called him an hopeless romantic, but he was only twelve years old and so little did he know about what love truly meant.

Though, when he was about seventeen he still hadn’t gotten a girlfriend or boyfriend. At least, he had figured out eventually that he’s attracted to all kind of sexes. And, once again, unlike his friends he also wasn’t interested in meaningless sex. A one night stand didn’t sound appealing. Sex didn’t sound appealing, actually.

While the others experienced their first time, either with their partners or random people, he still struggled with finding out what he wanted. Sure, he found people attractive but did he want to have sex with these people? It’s not like he was grossed out by the thought of it, but it also wasn’t something that he did need to experience in his life.

But he was scared. Scared of not fitting in, of being different. He didn’t want to end up alone. Loneliness was another thing he was afraid of. Yet, he didn’t find the right person to be with and no one seemed to be the perfect match. Of course, he bonded with people but they never got on the second base. He even feared that he might friendzone people way too easily and that _he _was the problem. Though, other people also didn’t seem to want to be with him. Was he too broken for people to crush on him? Was he not attractive enough? Not nice enough? Just not enough?__

____

It felt like the ground opened and his spiralling mind pulled him in there. There was no one who could understand him. No one to relate to. He knew that he couldn’t be the only one who thought about sex and love this way, but he didn’t have proof that he wasn’t alone. Not when he didn’t know anyone like him. 

____

So, the only thing that was left for him to do was trying things out. The first time he had kissed someone had been for a dare, so that hadn’t counted. He had to try again then. There was this cute guy, really funny and nice, who he got along with really well. They had flirted for a while until they eventually ended up making out. But even if the guy was nice and cute, it still hadn’t felt right. Theo didn’t enjoy it and he felt even worse afterwards. He felt so broken that he wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and ask the universe why he had to be this way, why he couldn’t just be like everybody else. 

____

The only thing that grounded him back then was his sister. She was the only person he could talk to. Tara listened. She always did. They talked about his problems to fit in and she helped him to crawl back out of the hole he had found himself in. And one day she came to him and told him that she had found a term to describe how he felt. Demisexual. Only being attracted to someone in a sexual kind of way after you’ve formed a strong bond. But was this really how he felt like?

____

Still, he went with it. Sticked to the word and was proud to finally have something that he could relate to. But a word couldn’t make him feel better. It didn’t mean that all his questions suddenly had vanished. He wasn’t smarter than before just because he had labeled himself. And bonding with other people romantically didn’t happen. He still didn’t understand the concept of love, if there even was something to understand about it. 

____

He had been such a precious bean. Not aware of what he had actually known all along. It had been right there and still not near enough to catch it. Fortunately, the universe holds the answers for him, or it at least lets him cross paths with people that can answer all his questions.

____

In his freshman year of college, Theo finally takes his first step into the direction of the real self-discovery. He meets Liam and Mason; and Theo can’t be luckier to have the cute couple as his friends. They not only teach him a lot about life, but also about sexual orientations. The boys get along immediately. They share the same interests and their personalities just seem to match. While Liam is the excited and cute puppy that still can easily become a wolf with fangs and claws, Mason is calm, supportive and loyal. They truly balance each other out. 

____

Theo feels so comfortable around them that he eventually opens up to them. He starts right at the beginning and tells them everything. He’s happy that he finally has other people to talk to than his sister. And when he’s finished Liam and Mason just share a knowing look before they say “asexual” out of one mouth, and Theo had never thought that one word could throw his whole world upside down.

____

Apparently, per definition at least, asexuality is the lack of sexual attractions to others. It sounds simple but it isn’t. Sexual orientations are twisted and just because the definition says so it doesn’t mean that the label is perfect for you. For Theo, though, a whole new world gets presented to him. A world in which he can be truly himself. And especially around the other two guys that accept him the way he is. That don’t call him an hopeless romantic or throw him quizzical looks whenever he tells them something about himself.

____

Who could have known that being accepted and finding people with the same mindset as yours could have such a big impact on your life. Theo would have searched for such people earlier in his life, if he had known. But at the same time he thinks that their paths were always destined to cross this way. His story is meant to be like this, twisted and complicated, but he had figured it out eventually, like all the other people do. The happy ending might not be as pathetic as he had always thought.

____

Yet, a new difficulty awaits him and the happy end seems so far away again. He’s not one to destroy people’s relationships and so he holds his distance to his friends for a while. He doesn’t answer their calls or messages. Only leaves his dorm to get to class and tries to avoid Liam and Mason as much as possible. Whenever he sees them he flees and takes another way or sits on the other side of the room. Even avoids eye contact when he knows that they’re actually staring at him. It goes on like this for weeks.

____

Until, eventually, Liam and Mason seem to have enough of it and corner him in the bathroom, apparently followed him all the way there- my friends are so ridiculous, Theo thinks. 

____

“Theo, this can’t go on like this any longer. Why are you avoiding us?” Liam speaks up first and Theo hates the pained look on his face. Especially when he just wants the other boy to be happy. 

____

He doesn’t know how to answer that question. Doesn’t have the right words to explain it, at least not the ones that won’t hurt them. It’s already bad enough that he hurts himself. So, he stays silent. Simply staring at the ground and hoping that he might disappear, but nothing like that happens and he stays on the same spot with his gaze down, still.

____

“Theo, man, talk to us,” Mason says a little softer, worry still clear in his tone, though. He even puts his hand on Theo’s shoulder and what hurts most is that he wants to lean into the touch. Wishes for Mason to squeeze his shoulder like he always does, but why would he do that now? Not when Theo upset them, not after avoiding them for weeks.

____

Liam is the one who takes his chin between his fingers and gently forces him to look up at them. Theo’s eyes alternate between locking with Liam’s sky blue ones and Mason’s earthy brown eyes, together with his own green irises they create the image of a clearing in the woods. The blue of the sky, the brown tree trunks and ground, and the green bushes, grass and treetops. Theo just wants to take a walk through said forest but he doesn’t know if he’s allowed to. The only thing he knows are all the consequence the walk could have. 

____

And what is the most frightening is that he doesn’t know which of the scenarios he came up with is the one that will become reality once he voices his feelings. Yet, he can’t bottle up his emotions any longer. The others deserve to know.

____

“I-,” he starts but cuts himself off again, clearing his throat, “I’m scared,” Theo tries again, his voice still not more than a whisper, but at least he’s standing at the entrance of the forest now.

____

“What are you afraid of, Theo,” Liam asks, sounding fonder than ever before. His fingers absentmindedly brush over the scruff on his chin and as if Mason had listened to his thoughts earlier he squeezes Theo’s shoulder encouragingly. And maybe these gentle touches are the last push he needs to open his mouth again and voice the words he’s most afraid of.

____

“I’m scared of losing you,” Theo says a little louder this time, “because I’m in love with you. The both of you.” He had expected to see shock in the other boys’ faces and most definitely not that Liam and Mason both beam at him. They should be disappointed, take pity on him, be angry or laugh at him, but all they do is smile fondly and embrace him in a hug together.

____

Theo’s brain can’t catch up with what’s happening. He’s completely taken off guard, so his arms just hang uselessly on either side of his body and trapped between the other boys’ ones. Swiftly, he puts them around them though, holding onto Liam and Mason as if his life is depending on it. 

____

“Finally,” Mason says before he plants a kiss on the heads of both of his boys and all of them break out into laughter. Theo uses the sleeve of his sweater to wipe away the tears that suddenly form in the corners of his eyes. Relief is washing over him. He really made it into the woods and he couldn’t be any happier.

____

 

____

For the first time in his life, Theo feels neither different nor special. He just feels like himself. Sure, there will always be new things to figure out in his life, but at least he has wonderful people by his side that can help him. He has his sister that he can always talk to, the one he’s sure he shares a brain with. And of course he has Mason and Liam, his friends for the last year and his boyfriends for the last three months. They welcomed him into their lives and showed him a new and unique perspective on the world.

____

He’s never felt like a third wheel around them, not once. Sure, he doesn’t share the sexual intimacy with them that they share, but there are so many other ways to express the love he feels for them. Like, making breakfast for him and his boyfriends every morning, the cuddles on the couch while they watch a movie and the loving kisses on either their lips, cheeks, hands or even fingers, sometimes they’re brief and other times they’re longer. Neither Liam nor Mason push him to do it nor ask for it. They just let him do it whenever he feels like it. 

____

But what Theo loves most is the unspoken commitment, support and trust. Maybe that’s what love is. Though, he’s still not sure if you can find proper words to express this warm and gentle feeling. And if he learnt one thing in his life then to not always label and define everything. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, right? And so he doesn’t judge his own. He accepts it; every pattern, every new twisted thing. He accepts himself.

____

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.  
> Kudos and comments always make my day <3
> 
> I have to give credit to Em for the forest metaphor because she wrote something similar to it in her last fic and my brain apparently wanted to use it as well. I didn't realize it till I read over the fic again. So, all the credit goes to Em because she came up with it first. You can find her under the username "Oh_well_Em_writes" on here. She's an amazing writer and I highly recommend her fics to everyone <3


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